In recent years, drone technologies have been explored for a range of applications in conservation including (but not limited to) mapping, biodiversity inventories, antipoaching patrols, wildlife tracking, and fire monitoring. The rise of customizable, open-source drones like those of ArduPilot and OpenROV hold promise for more effective conservation applications, and combined with other monitoring sensors and devices, they are capable of collecting high-resolution data quickly, noninvasively, and at relatively low cost.
However, challenges remain in putting these tools to use. A recent paper reviewing 256 conservation drone projects highlighted some of these major obstacles, ranging from unintended social and ecological consequences of drone operations to still prohibitive costs, both in terms of hardware and in terms of storing and processing large volumes of data. The longstanding challenge of power/battery life remains as well.
If you're considering trying out drones for yourself, and want to explore the possibilities and understand the major conversations happening around this technology, check out these beginner's resources and conversations from across the WILDLABS platform:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Conservation Technology User Guidelines Issue 5: Drones, World Wildlife Fund | Drones, best practices, ethics, regulations, case studies
- WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Recording: Drones, Craig Elder, Dr. Claire Burke, and Gabriel Levin | Drones, thermal camera, wildlife crime, ML, biologging
- New Paper: Drones and Bornean Orangutan Distribution, Sol Milne | Drones, data analysis, citizen science, community science, primates
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- Curious about radio-tracking with drones? | Wildlife Drones, Biologging (5 replies)
- Drones for GIS Best practice Document | Adrian Hughes, Drones (10 replies)
- WWF Conservation Technology Series: Drones in Conservation | Aurélie Shapiro, Drones (7 replies)
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- How do I use a drone to capture radio-tracking data? | Debbie Saunders, Tech Tutors
- How do I choose the right drone for my conservation goals? | Shashank Srinivasan, Tech Tutors
- How do I strategically allocate drones for conservation? | Elizabeth Bondi, Tech Tutors
Want to know more about using drones, and learn from experts in the WILDLABS community? Make sure you join the conversation in our Drones group!
*Header photo: Parker Levinson, Point Blue Conservation Science
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 16 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
Research coordinator Transfrontier Africa, PhD student STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY
- 0 Resources
- 8 Discussions
- 2 Groups
Partner in Conservation at WWF
- 0 Resources
- 17 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @aljmichel
- | she/her
PhD student at UC Davis studying gorilla communication & movement
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
Wildlife conservationist
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 11 Groups
Data has been my passion and i enjoy working with data while bringing value to the business. Data engineer with 7+ years of experience Eager to support with expert analytical skills to advance the companys business operations and strategic initiative.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 9 Groups
- @DanielHugelmann
- | He / Him
Hi, I'm the co-founder of OceanLabs Seychelles. We design and build environmental and marine remote sensing devices for conservation NGOs. As an engineer and avid diver, with a love for the environment, connecting conservation and technology was the natural thing to do!
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @DBayley
- | He/him
Fauna & Flora & University College London (UCL)
I'm a tropical marine ecologist, specialising in coral reefs, MPAs, and blue carbon. Within conservation technology my focus has been around developing underwater imaging techniques, primarily to assist coral reef monitoring
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
I study movement, behaviour and/or physiology using combine various sensors and tracking techniques. My focus is marine predators. However, my interest extends through the entire food web in all types of environment.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
Technology for Wildlife Foundation
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Article
New technologies offer a lot of potential for conservation, but are there potential risks to deploying these new technologies? In this first thought piece for the Ethics of Conservation Tech Group, Dr Chris Sandbrook...
2 November 2015
September 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
March 2026
April 2023
February 2023
33 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi all! I recently did a little case study using RGB drone data and machine learning to quantify plant health in strawberries. I wanted to... |
|
Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial | 3 months 2 weeks ago | |
|
|
Latin America Community, Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Drones, Early Career | 3 months 3 weeks ago | ||
| Hi Adam! Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I have not used radar systems or AI systems for this sort of detection, but there are methods using change detection... |
|
AI for Conservation, Drones, Wildlife Crime | 4 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi @skirchgeorg , thanks for the additional info. We discuss again about this with my colleague and we were still hesitating with the drone, as it will still make some noise that... |
|
Drones, eDNA & Genomics | 5 months ago | |
| Good morning JocelynThank you very much for your comment, this is proving to be very useful advice and thank you so much for setting me on the right path!! This is very exciting!!... |
|
Animal Movement, Citizen Science, Human-Wildlife Coexistence, Marine Conservation, Drones, Community Base, Geospatial | 5 months ago | |
| How much does it cost to incorporate machine learning into your conservation drone geospatial analysis? How does it speed up your workflow... |
|
Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions, Sensors, Software Development | 6 months ago | |
| We just wanted to share this news outside the core robotics community - hoping to connect more with conservationists, researchers,... |
|
AI for Conservation, Drones | 6 months 2 weeks ago | |
| @cmwainaina check this out |
|
Drones, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Geospatial | 7 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Simon,We (Reneco International Wildlife Consultants) have an ongoing collaboration with a local University (Abu Dhabi, UAE) for developing AI tools (cameratrap/drone... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Connectivity, Drones, Early Career, eDNA & Genomics, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools, Sensors | 7 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thank you David, a phenomenal source! |
+10
|
Drones, Geospatial, Protected Area Management Tools | 7 months 3 weeks ago | |
| I've used both Dronelink and Litchi for flight planning with my DJI Mini SE - and then stitched in WebODM. Both apps support most DJI drones that have a suporting SDK. I'm not... |
|
Drones | 8 months ago | |
| Hi Matthew Wow, what an amazing project! It is incredible how you have managed to figure out some of the complexities of combining underwater imagery with UAV imagery. I am... |
|
Drones, Geospatial, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools | 8 months 1 week ago |
